Glass-blowing machine



y c. s. BUDD GLASS BLOWING MACHINE Filed March 26. 1924 FIG. 9

ill

Patented May 24, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

CLINTON S. BUDD, 0F CLARION, PENHSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 HARTFORD-EMPIRE COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNEfiTICU'l, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

GLASS-BLOWING MACHINE.

Application flleii March 26, 1924. Serial No. 702,052.

My invention relates to a method and apparatus for blowing glass articles, and par ticularly to a means and a method whereby articles of different heights may be properly blown from similar blanks and on a single automatic .or semi-automatic forming ma chine. I accomplish this result, in general, by providing the table with molds of a plurality of shapes and causing these molds to cooperate selectively with a plurality of blow-heads in such a manner that air is admitted to certain of the molds only at predetermined blowing stations. The blowmolds having molding cavities of ditlerent heights are all supplied with blanks or parisons of the same size and shape, and the blowing of the taller molds is automatically prevented until the blanks in such molds have elongated or run down to the proper extent in such blow-molds.

Another object of my invention to pro vide a glass-blowing machine with two or more active blow-heads adapted to be employed selectively for blowing the ware at different stations; some or all'ot the blowheads being also arranged to operate in succession upon a given blow-mold, so as to assist in holding the glass in close contact with. the walls of the mold during the period 'hen the glass is becoming sufficiently rigid to be transferred from the l)lowinold to the lehr.

In the manufacture of bottles and other hollow glass articles, it frequently happens that it is desired to make small quantities of ware of substantially the weight. but of different shapes. and requiring molds of ditl'erent heights. This is particularly trequent in small factories making soda and sottdrink bottles, which have the same weight but have different shapes and lengths. Since orders of this kind are largely for loral customers and are relatively small, the bottle manufacturers try to fill these orders by making a variety of bottles on one blowing ma hine so as to avoid the expense ot equipping an entire machine with each kind of mold that is required. All. of the molds on the blowing machine are ordinarily supplied with similar blanks or parisons, and all or the molds are blown at the same blowing station. Therefore the blanks occupy ditlerent portions of the internal spaces of he unlike blowmiolds when the molds arrive at the blowing station, and this makeshift system always results in faulty distribution of the glass and an unduly large proportion of in. iert'ect ware. My present in-- vention impro es this system by taking into account the following considerations:

lVhen a parison of plastic glass is deposited in a blow-mold it begins to lengthen or run d ow;n.by gravity, and the extent of such lengthening: depends upon the period of time between the time when the blank is deposited in the blow mold and the time when the blank is blown out to the shape of the blow-lucid. To obtain proper distribution of the glass -:1 tln finished article it is desirable that thr iower end of the blank be allowed to run dawn until it touches the bottom of the biow mold or nearly so. In this case the glass tends to expand more evenly in all directions during the blowing operation. It the lower end of the blank in tar above the bottom of the blow-mold when the blowin; operation begins. the glass tends to blow out to one side or the other of the blowmold. thus causing uneven distribution and producing finish d ware which is usually imperfect and must be discarded.

\Vhen molds of d ifi'erent heights are used or the some mold table, and are supplied ith blanks of the some length, it is obvious that the blank will run down and touch the bottom of the shortest. mold before :i similar blank will run down to the bottom of a longer mold.

Automatic blowing machines frequently have six blonwnolda on the mold table. and each complete lfllutiuti of the table brings each blow-mold to ditleront positions. of which the first is the transfer position. where the blank is transferr d from the blank mold to the blow mold; the second. third or fourth may be the usual blowing position; the fifth position may be the takeout position wl'iero the linisl'ied were is removed from the blow mold, and the sixth position may be an idle position.

This ii'ivention aims to cause such a nuichine to make perfect ware of dillerent heights by preventing the blanks from being blown in the taller blowanolds until the glass has had time to run down and come into or nearly into contact with the bottom of the blow mold. acoompiish this result, in the embodiment of my invention herein. shown, by providing the machine with a plurality of blow-heads, all of which are arand the l) t)\Vn1tIl(l is prevented.

ranged to deliver air to tho blow mo ea -h forward movvmrnt ot thimm and h providing moans s' tt'li {w pins 0% othor projvt tions in tho ions ol. the tailor blow molds, sni'h projmfi ons rngaging the nntlor snrl'aro (it tho hlovi' ltttltl at tho first position an l thus prwonting tho first blow head from lilowing air into thr mold. For very tall atylea of ware I so arransgo the pins or projection that; tin-v also provvrs the aoronii blowht-nrl from opnrnting on tin if glass, thus giving the blank an interva two 'itllfi positions of the niolrl i which the glms may run tlown i Tho awontl blow llOt tl in); amalh'i' in iliai'nvtor than ih iirst i ih wl. a that the srcowl hlowhr i will his. hotwevn the pins or gniortio n tho hiow inolii'a when the =1! projt thins are so arranged that Now nrorrntml at thrtirat. hiowinpposit 1 lirg'nn at tho p-ZPPQHJ. Mon ing position. l iinilarlv. tho thirli lilow-hrint is; made of bill! swath-r iliamntr-r than Second l,-lo.v-h1=all a as in i i n n t im molt.

projections when the proler are no an raiwml to irewnt; hitwmi at f-oth tho Ylly inrrntion in anplirrizlit to forms of apparatus hat for the pin' illnntration. l havoshown my lll\ lll.mlt a. employed in ronncution with a rotary ht mkmolil talwlo and 2t rotary hlowanoltt tatlo, ahoro tho la ter of whirh is monntotl a. pinraiit of blow-howls past WlliCll the molds are mow-d n; the table after havin received a hhnlq otmolton glass from tho l lanl mohhng apparatus. The lilowmolils as they movipast. tho blowing stations are ongwgrtl hy tho blow-hoods in the usual mannor. with tho rxioption that it it is known that tho htnnk in a given mold will not hart attainril Sililll 'ltlil, lvn gth when it reaches tho fir t blow-howl. for instant-e, complete operative ongagonwnthotwoen the blow-howl l'n FORK rawrs the blowing oporation will talw plare at tho soroml station. and in other cases at the thir l stniiom and so on.

In the awonipanying drawin. Fig. l is a pin" xiow. showing nchenmtirally an arrangiimw whvrrin my inv ntion may hi. onipioyml; Fig. 2 in a n rtional view showing a blow-m ld, at'toi a hiiinlq of glass has linen tlt'illtlhlltil theroin anti 2. lllfiW-ll03Cl held out of operative ongngvnwnt tharowi h by means oi pins y: illQt, by tho iii i'i; Fig. 3 is a national view sho ing a blow-howl in o irratire cngagcinont, with the blow-mold of Fig. E3; Fig. 4' is a virw at a lilow -inohl having;- a. aonnnvliat, taller molding cavity than that 0T tin: moltl shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and having its pins less remotely spaceil than the pins of the mold of Figs. 2 and 3. this figure also showing the blow-head of Fig. I] hold out of operative engagmnent mamas with the mold; Fig. 5 is a view f the mold of Fig. 4 in opnrative engagement with a will impsar from Fig. 1, the apparatnn comprises a hlank-mold tahlo or carrier 1, provitlml with blank or parison molds 2 hirh are moved past the station A of a hlowanolrl tahlo or carrier 3 that. is provided with molds 4 which receive the blanks or narisons of glass at tho station A, through till?- instrnnientallty of transfer mechanism. not, ahon n. which may he ot any well known or il'csiruil tyne.

After the hlow-anohla rervivo their charge; t nia-as they are moved past the. blowing stations. B (l and I) in the usual manner. At rarh station o at one of thom, a blowlit-a is hm iii-u operative engagement with tho mol to roingzlete the formation of the artinlo within the mold. Atthe station Fl tho voni virtail article may he removed from tho mom. hii'o at the station F a cool in mvtlinni mag. ho supplied to ti mold or any other desired operation etl'ectoi prepar- :..(H' Y t tho planing of another hlanl: in said no a am'mratns just referral to arily he of the automatic rreri Yivl; typo, and may ho of any of the usual towns. tho prisz -ipal no'i'i'l tnntnre (it tho ninrral conatrniii n bring tho provision oi rality ot iiinultanmnJ-Jy ('ll'lflllilti blow-hearts on a single. i 7

hi Fina. '2 anti it. tho liliuWllltNl at it: t B flvsh nnlmi by the numeral 5; i; 2; anti 4 the numeral 6 tlfifiig'tttlifl? tini llttltl at station (7. whiin in Fig. .i, moral 'i' (lOZ S JlGl' S the hli'i'ax-lwaii at ..ii=t.ir,:ii D. It will he ohservml than the blow-hands 5. 6 and 7 have Hang-ea of dittorrnt diamntors.

Figs. '73 and 3 Show a blow-mold 8 which is provi lotl with pint; f) pa ml nrh a tllS- tanro apart that thry hold the bl w-howl 5 out of operat ve engagement with the top of the Mow-mold. hut the l7l0\\'*li(55ltl 6. shown in Fin. 3. will paw l'wtworn the pitta t) in the mannvr shown, to oxpanll the hlair ll) which. at the station it. had not roa it the bottom of the. nwlll R. The dotted tints ll of Fig. 2 indicate approximately the position oi the lower end of the blank whom the station (l having the lilow-heafi 6 is roarhnil.

it will he appzlrnnt that if the pins 9 were farther apart, the hlow-hea l 5 would have moved down upon the top of the mold at station B and attested a blowing tip-oration. In the shorter molds, wherein the glans; hlank has reached a. point ntljacent to the bot tom thereof by the time station E is reached,

iii)

the pins are omitted or are spaced a distanceapart to permit the blow-head 5 to pass be tween them.

In Fig. 4 is shown a mold 12 having pins l3 and having a taller molding cavity than that of the mold 8. The spacing of the pins 13 indicates that a glass blank would not elongate in the mold 12 sutliciently for proper blowing at the station (l. but in Fig.9.. 5 such mold indicated in operative cugagcmcnt with the blow-head T at station l). the blow-head 7 being smaller than the blowhead (3 of the station C.

If a given mold. such as the mold 8 of Figs. 2 and 2:). is prevented by its upstanding pins 9 from being blown at the first blowing station and receives its tirst blow at the second blowing station, itreceives a further blow at the third blowing station. since the pins 9 will admit between them the blowheatd 7 as well as the larger blow head (3. ,A mold which is permitted to engage the first blow-head 5 will of course be blown also at the second and third blowing stations. The use in this manner of two or more active blow-heads on a single bl wing machine is advantageous when the machine is making one style of ware as well as when it is making a variety of styles. beriiiisc. after the first or expainlingpuli' is delivered to each mold. the lair-1' it or pulls prevent the expanded glass from -l":-i\i'iiig away from the walls of the mold dui mg the time when the surfaces of the glass anli'jl fllillitj chilled enough to support the glass. This Same holding ellect has been ought hcrciofore by blowing jets ot air into the open top of the blow-mold atter the biowheail is removed, but such free jets oi air tend to chill the glass too rapidly and too thoroughly. es: peeially when the glass is to be annealelin modern lehrs where the residual heat ot the glass is relied upon to? annealing. \Vhen the glass is introduced into such a lchi'. it must have as much residual heat as i' lil" sistent with sullicieiit rigi-ziity to reseriethe shape of the glass article. This requirement is well satisfied by my method ol applsing successive active blow-beads to a given mold, because the later or holding putts do not. sweep a large volume of air through the mold as a tree jet would do. but merely in crease the pressure within the mold by in troducing arelatively small and slowly moving body of air.

Another advantage of this method of holding the glass in contact with the mold is that. most of the chilling of the glass takes place on its outer surface which in contact with the mold, thereby producing a rigid outer shell of sutlieient strength to support the article, with less total chilling than is necessary it the glass chilled substantially' on both its inner and the outer surfaces, as in the case when. free air jets are (BITIPlOyOd to hold out the glass in the mold after blowing.

The system, herein described, of preventing the blowing of a hollow artielenntil after the desired interval of running down atlords a means for controlling and Varying the distribution of glass in the finished ware. For example, an article which can be normally blown at the first blowing position. may be given a thicker bottom and a thinner shoulder by delaying the blowing until the mold reaches the second or third blowing position. By utilizing this method of controlling the distribution of the glass, it is possible to employ a given mold with glasses of a variety of compositions, some of which would not be suitable for that par ticular mold if blown in the normal way.

lf desired. means other than the pins herein shown may be employed to prevent blowing at certain stations. Thus some or all of the blow-heads may be provided with projections or other means for preventing blowing engagement between such blow-heads and certain of the molds; or the molds and the blow-heads may be provided with registering projections and depressions for the same purpose, and these may obviously be arranged in a great variety of ways. Also, the projections or other means for producing selective blowing engagementbetween the blow-heads and the molds may be made adjustable and arrangedto be set in operaw tive or inoperative position. as desired.

in some cases it may be desired to blow the ware at. the first or sceond blowing station and to prevent blowing at the subsequent station or stations, as when it is de' sired to blow an article liaving a thin bot tom. Such a method ti'fPUfWltllltIlt may be provided by the arrangementshown in Figs. 8 and 9. In Fig. 8 isshowii diagrammatically the under surface of a. blow-head 5 similar to the blow head inf Fig. 53, having notches Qt! formed in opposite sides and so spaced as to admit the pins 21 of a blowmoh ;-22. when the angular position of the notches 20 is the same as. the angular position of the pins 21, as shown at the left of Fig. 8. When, however the blow-head 5 is turned so as'to bring the notches 20 to some other angular positlon, sis shown for example at the right of, Fig. 8, the pins 21 will not be received in the notches :20 and blowing will be prevented.

The arrangement of Fig. 8 provides for blowing at the first of the two positions shown and for preventing blowing at the second position, Fig. 9 shows in the same diagrammatic manner an arrangement of similar notches 20 and pins 2P whereby blowing is prevented at the first position and is permitted in the second position in the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 5. It will be evident that the notches and pins just and selectively preventing a blowing? '40 progressively varyi means for moving said mold to said described permit any desired selection of the positions at which the blowin is permitted or prevented, such; selection eing carried out by merely changing the angular rela 5 tions between the pins and the notches.

Also, automatic valve mechanism of various well known types may be employed for preventing flow of air tl' roiigh the blow pipes except when in operative engagement with a mold, or for preventing lion" of air through the blow pipes when in enizagement with molds in which the glass is not yet ready for blowing. it is not conisdered necessary to illustrate these modified constructions, or the various other modifications which may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the accompanying claims.

I claim as my invention: 1. Glass blowing apparatus comprising \lblowing elements dis sed at a lnrality of lowing stations, a p uralitv of glow molds, means for moving said molds to said stations in succession, and means for automatically I no tion on certain of said molds at one of said stations.

2. Glass blowing ap aratus comprising a mold carrier, molds o different:characters carried thereby, blow heads disposed at fixed blowing stations adjacent to said carrier in position to cooperate with molds mounted on said carrier, and means for preventing operative engagement between one of said blow heads and all molds of a designated character.

3. Glass blow" 9: apparatus comprising a mold carrier, mol of different characters carried thereby, a series of blow heads of 9 dimensions disgmsed at fixed blowing siscions adjacent to said carrier in position to cooperate with molds mounted on said carrier, and means for preventing operative engagement between one of said blow-hebds and all molds oi i;

designated character, the said means prising a projection on such blowqrmlls which prevents the blow-heads in excess of a predetermined dimension from moving};

50 into engagement with such molds l. Glass blowing apparatus comprising a mold carrier, molds mounted on said carrier, a series of blow-beads of progressi ely decreasing diametersv disposed sdjsicnt t said carrier in position to tho-orient. viii: molds mounted on said carrier, and pm} tions extending upwardly from certain said molds and preventing blow-heads in $3.2? cess of a ids.

5. Glass blowing appaiuii is eihpflrlll i blowing elements disp sed at a plurality of blowing stations, a. plurality of molds having molding cavities differing? li h szlit,

predetermined diameter from oper alive engagement with such in succession, and means for selectively preventing molds having cavities of a given height from being blown at one of said stations.

Glass blowing appa atus comprising blowing elements disposed at a plurality of blowing stations, a plurality of molds having molding cavities differing in height, means for moving said molds to said stations in succession, and means for selectively preventing molds having cavities of relatively great height from being blow at h first oi said stations.

7. Glass blowing appara' conipri. -'i.i"* blowing elements disposed a a plnralii blowing stations, a plu 7' molds an ing molding cavities di K in lie) ht, means for moving said moi ls .c said sin tions in succession, and means for prevenh ing molds having cavities of a given ieigbt from being blown at one of said statics, the said means consisting of projections on said molds for preventing a blowing operaiion. at said station ti. Gloss biowing a; nine conii'rising a earner, a series i: slowad acent to the path of movement. of said carrier and sively of decreasing diameter, and a lit of molds having lXiOlg: cavities different heights, each mold of 'fven height being: provided with PIU WJIlODS apart distance to went ioovenz nt thercbct seen of a blow-head whose lower end is wider than said distance.

9. Glass blowing apparatus comprising a rotary mold table carrying a series of molds having molding cavities of dilierentheights, a series of three blow-heads adjacent to said mold table and. arranged to approach said molds. means carried by certain of said .n'aolds for i' entice: operative engagei'nent of such molds with the first of said blow beads, eiiile permittingope ire engagw ment of such molds with the second and third blow-heads, and means carried by other of said molds for preventing operative engagement of said las n: molds is the first and second of sai blow-dictum i h le permitting operative engagement of z-i last-named molds with the third blow lieu-d only,

i Glass blowing apparatus comprising a rotaiy mold table carrying series of molds moi-ling cavities of diflerent heights, of three blon ii (l5 inijacen to aid i table. and arranged to approach said the ends of said blow-heads heir; of i iil'tlHFl Bl decreasing mameter. i i seed pro ieclions carried named molds with either the firs or His second blow-heml 11. The method whii'ii mm smqiyiw ing Hanks of plusiiiv giz is inning molding cavities of vai-iona heigntsa, moving Paid molds successiwly to a iii)" 0f blowing stations, and initially hi0 *inp; time.

in ihc shorter mold @zwitis at a staticni in aiii'mici'! (if ihe staiion at which the ginss; is: bimvn in (he iaiier mum cavities.

in iesiimimy WhQIPUf 1. the said CLINTON Br m), have hereunto 89: my hand.

CLINTON S. RUDD. 

